Accused Mexican cartel leaders dispute extradition

San Diego 
Four accused leaders of a Mexican drug cartel refused to enter pleas to drug, racketeering and money laundering charges Friday, claiming they were wrongly extradited to the United States.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy Bencivengo entered not guilty pleas on their behalf.

Attorneys for Jesus "Chuy" Labra, considered the financial brains of the Arellano Felix cartel, told reporters that the extradition treaty between the U.S. and Mexico requires that a verdict be reached on criminal charges in Mexico before he can be sent to the U.S.

Labra had been awaiting trial in a Mexican prison for nearly nine years when he was extradited Dec. 31. He was arrested in March 2000 while watching his son play soccer in Tijuana, Mexico.

"If this happened to an American in an American trial, it would be outrageous, to be in the middle of a trial and to be shipped to another country," said Guadalupe Valencia, an attorney for Labra.

Labra tapped extensive connections with Colombian cocaine traffickers and Mexican marijuana growers and regularly participated in the cartel's major decisions, according to the 2003 indictment.

Even if there had been a verdict in Mexico, Labra should not have been extradited because he is charged with essentially the same crimes in both countries, which would constitute double jeopardy, his attorneys said.

Debra Hartman, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in San Diego, declined to comment on the extradition issue.

John Kirby, a former federal prosecutor who co-wrote the indictment, said the U.S. and Mexico had an agreement before he left government in 2005 that allowed for defendants to be extradited to the U.S. pending resolution of their cases in Mexico.

"The Mexican process can take forever," Kirby said. "The idea was they could be sent up here and tried while the case is still fresh."

Labra and the three other alleged cartel leaders, all Mexican citizens, responded only to procedural questions during a brief hearing. Labra declined to seek bail.

The judge scheduled a Jan. 27 hearing to consider bail for the others: Armando Martinez Duarte, the cartel's "chief enforcer" in Mexicali, according to the indictment; Efrain Perez Arciniega, who allegedly handled logistics of moving large shipments of cocaine and marijuana through a San Diego border crossing; and Jorge Aureliano Felix, a former law enforcement official, accused of helping store drugs and keep financial accounts.